Every Place Has a Story

The mysterious graves at UBC’s Gage Towers

the_title()

Gregg Doughty has worked at UBC as horticulturist and arborist since 1991. For the last few decades, he has tried to find out the names of the people buried in two unmarked graves. The university prefers not to talk about it. They’re worried that the graves may be vandalized or frighten students living in the adjacent Walter Gage residences.

…read more

The Fraser Street Swing Span Bridge

the_title()

The Fraser Street Swing Span Bridge was built in 1894 and linked what’s now Fraser Street with No. 5 Road, Richmond. It was demolished in 1974 after completion of the Knight Street Bridge. This is part one of a three-part series about crossing the Fraser River in 1972 by Angus McIntyre

On December 31, 1972, Angus McIntyre, 25 was living at the Fairmont Apartments at 10th Avenue and Spruce Street.

…read more

The Ghosts of Glen Drive

the_title()

 

Jose Lee and her sister bought a house on Vancouver’s Glen Drive in 1984. For a time they shared the house with the previous tenant who had died some years before.

This is an excerpt from a story in Sensational Vancouver.

When Jose Lee bought her house in 1984, she said it had the most beautiful landscaping in the neighbourhood.

…read more

  The 1981 PNE Prize Home

the_title()

Architect Ron Thom designed a 4,000 sq.ft. prize home for the PNE  in 1981. It resided in South Surrey.

In 1981, British Columbia was in the throes of a recession, house prices were plummeting, and first-time buyers were looking at interest rates of over 20%.

Architectural offices were closing, and even a starchitect like Ron Thom was searching for clients.

…read more

The Brill Trolley Buses of Sandon, BC

the_title()

Thought I’d take a break from my summer break to write up this post about Sandon, a super interesting town in the Kootenays. We dropped by there last week on our way to Nelson because I’d heard it was a ghost town and a graveyard for Vancouver’s Brill Trolley buses. We arrived there via a 10 km dirt road that runs off Highway 31A between New Denver and Kaslo.

…read more

Malcolm Lowry’s North Vancouver

the_title()

Malcolm Lowry may be North Vancouver’s most talented, paranoid alcoholic. He wrote Under the Volcano, his most famous book, from a shack in Cates Park. Lowry died on June 26, 1957 at 48.

Under the Volcano:

Born in England, Lowry lived in Vancouver for more than 15 years. He had a variety of addresses on Vancouver’s West Side and in the West End, but most of his time was spent near Deep Cove in North Vancouver.

…read more

Fire takes out King Edward High School

the_title()

On June 19, 1973, a three-alarm fire broke out at the old King Edward High School at West 12th and Oak Street. The building was destroyed, but remnants remain on the old site, now part of Vancouver General Hospital.

From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History

Designed by William T.

…read more